Rajgarh (MP): A person facing several criminal cases has been arrested and booked under stringent National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly defacing idols of deities, police said on Sunday.

"Farukh Mewati, involved in around 20 criminal cases, had allegedly defaced some idols near a river in Talen town in the district on January 15 which led to tension in the area," Superintendent of Police Shashikant Shukla told PTI.

The accused was arrested yesterday and charged under the NSA, he said.

He was sent to jail in Bhopal following an order passed by District Collector Anand Kumar Sharma that Mewati should be incarcerated in the state capital, the police officer said.

Police claimed that during interrogation Mewati told that he had in an inebriated state defaced the idols of some deities.